Low tide comes soon. The level of the sea is low. Their boat is on the sand. They can’t move the boat. I hear them say, “We have to wait and leave with the next high tide.” This give us some hours. Friday and I stay in the forest until dark. Then I see that the men who stand the guard start to sleep. The three prisoners sit under a tree quite close to us. It looks like they are also quite far from the other sailors. We can come closer to them. When we are very close to them, I speak quietly to them. We are still behind the trees and they can’t see us. When they hear my voice, they can’t believe that somebody speaks English to them from the dark forest. “What is that?” asks one of the men. “I hear something. I hear a tree speak,” answers the other. “But it’s impossible. A tree can’t speak English.” “Yes, you hear something but it’s not a tree,” I say quietly. “My name is Robinson Crusoe. I’m an Englishman. I live on this island. I can help you if you tell me who you are.” After the first shocking moment, one man answers my question. He is the captain of the ship. But after a rebellion on the ship, the captain, his assistant and a passenger are prisoners. The other sailors want to leave them on the island. The captain says, “The truth is that there are only two dangerous sailors who control the others in the group. Eighty percent of them are still loyal to me. If the leaders are caught, the rest can return under my control.”
CHAPTER 28 – CONTROL I say, “I can help you but I have one condition. I want full control over the ship if we manage to get the ship back.” The captain and the other two prisoners agree. They give me full control over the ship and over their lives. We free the prisoners. Then we go back to the forest. I give them guns and we start to plan the attack. In the middle of our conversation, we see that the sailors who stand guard wake up. They stand up. They shout to three other men who are near to them. At that moment, we shoot the guards. Then the captain speaks to the three other men. He doesn’t want to shoot them but they must be loyal to him and help him get the ship back. They agree. We tie them and leave them on the beach. The other three men who hear the shots come back. They see that the situation is changed. We are five. We have a lot of guns. The situation is bad for them. They also say that they want to be loyal to the captain. We tie these men too. We hide our six prisoners in the forest. Then I and the captain have finally time to talk to each other. I tell him my story and he is shocked. He also thanks me a lot for my help. He and his two friends are hungry, so we go to my house. I show them the results of my work during all the years on the island. They are surprised when they see what I have. But we don’t have much time to explore my home. We have to plan how to get the ship back. There are sixteen men on board and we are only five. First, we decide to take everything out of the boat. We thinks that the sailors can send another boat to the island if the men from the first boat don’t come back with the next high tide. In the morning, we hear a gun. It’s a signal from the ship. After some time, we hear the gun again and again. There is no answer. Then we see that the sailors take another boat and go to the beach.
We see eight men. They all have guns. The captain tells me that six men are still loyal to him. But there is also the man who is the leader of the rebellion. The captain thinks that it’s difficult to beat them. But I tell him that we have a good chance to win. But we have to do something quickly. The captain trusts two of our prisoners. They promise to fight on our side. We give them weapons. We are seven men ready to fight. We wait for the arrival of the boat. When the boat reaches the beach, the men jump out of the boat. They pull the boat on the beach. Then, they run to the other boat. They are surprised when they see the boat empty. They call their friends. They shout. Then, they shoot in the air but it’s all useless. Nobody shouts back. The sailors are confused. They don’t understand the situation. They start to put the boat in the water again. It looks like they want to go back to the ship to tell the others that there is a problem. When the captain sees this, he is afraid that they can go back to the ship and leave the island forever. But 10 seconds later, the sailors change their plan. Now, they leave three men in the boat. The other five men go to the forest to look for their friends.
CHAPTER 29 – PLAN We continue to watch all the actions of both groups. The five men in the forest sit down under a tree. They discuss what to do. They argue a little. After a long conversation under the tree, they get up. Then they walk to the beach. Maybe they don’t want to look for friends. We have to do something quickly. We can’t let them go back to the boat. I have a plan. I tell the assistant to go more to the centre of the island. Friday goes with him. Then, they shout at the sailors. When the sailors hear this, they shout back. Then they go in the direction of the voice. Friday and the assistant continue to shout back. They take the sailors to the opposite side of the island. This strategy works very well. The five men are soon very far from the beach. This is very good for us. We go to the three men in the boat. We explain the situation to them. They decide not to fight us. They become our prisoners too. After some time, Friday and the assistant return. The sailors are very far from the beach. The sailors can’t return soon. We hide and we wait for them. When the sailors return, they are very tired. First, they go to the boat. They are surprised when they don’t find the three men. They call their friends. But nobody answers. The leader and two other men walk to the forest where we are hiding. The captain and Friday attack them when they are close to us. The leader is killed immediately. The second man is injured. The third man runs back to the boat. Then we all go out of the forest. We run to the boat. The captain speaks to sailors. He tells them to give up. When the sailors understand the situation, they drop their weapons quickly. We decide to tie the prisoners. But we don’t tie all of them. The captain trusts three of the men. We don’t tie these three men. Now, we are ten men. We start to plan how to get the ship. After some discussion we know what to do. Friday and I stay on the island. We have to watch the prisoners.
The captain, his assistant and the passenger take the clothes of some of the prisoners. They want to look like them. Then the captain and his sailors take the boat. They go to the ship. When they are near the ship, they speak to the men on the ship. They tell them that it isn’t possible to find the other men. When all of the men from the boat are on the ship, the captain shows his face and the attack begins. Some sailors are injured in the battle. Only one person is killed. It’s the second leader of the rebellion. When the captain has his ship again, we hear seven shots. It’s the signal that the ship is in captain’s hands again. I’m happy when I hear the shots. Soon the captain goes back to the island. He tells me that the ship is now under my control. I’m so happy. I start to cry. I cry so much that I can’t speak. After 10 minutes, I’m able to speak again. I speak to the captain. I tell him how happy I am. The captain tells his men to bring a lot of food from the ship. We eat good food. We celebrate our victory and my departure from the island. We drink expensive wine. We eat pork, beef and vegetable. We eat biscuits for dessert. I’m very happy when I eat this food again. The captain gives me new clothes. I have new clothes after a long time. The clothes are very light. They are a little uncomfortable first. But it’s soon OK. When the party is finished, we discuss what to do with the five prisoners who the captain doesn’t trust. The men are really horrible. The captain doesn’t want to take them on board the ship as prisoners. It’s too dangerous. I tell the captain to discuss it with the prisoners. Maybe they want to stay on the island. It’s better for them because their rebellion means death in England. We go to them and we explain the situation. They have to choose between a death in England and a life on the island. I think that it’s fair to let them decide. They decide to stay on the island. We put them in the cave. The cave is now the prison. I tell them to wait for more orders.
CHAPTER 30 – SON I need some time to prepare for the journey. I need to plan what to take with me. But then I see that I don’t need to take many things. I decide to take my dog, my parrot, my book and some other small things. I also take the money, gold and silver which are from the ships. They are finally useful to me. I meet with the prisoners again. I show them my corn and my animals. And I tell them about the island. Then I go on board the ship. We leave the island in December, 1686. It’s twenty-seven years after my first step on the island. First, we go to the island where Friday’s people live. The Spanish and Portuguese sailors are very happy when they see us. They are happy that we have a ship. Now we don’t have to build a new ship. We can go to Europe. My dog is very happy too. When he sees one of the Spanish sailors, he runs to him very quickly. He jumsp on him. He is extremely happy. The Spanish sailor is his owner. He is very happy too. He starts to cry when he sees his dog. It’s a very emotional meeting. The sailors start to prepare for our journey across the ocean. Friday has to make a decision. He can stay with his people. Or he can go to Europe with me. He needs some time to think about it. We stay on the island one night. In the morning, I ask Friday if he knows what to do. He tells me that he wants to go with me to Europe. He prepares everything for the journey. We are ready to go. We start our journey. Two months later, after a safe journey across the ocean, we arrive to London. For me it’s after thirty-five years. It looks like the whole world is different after those years. Some parts of London are new. There are some new houses, streets, roads, shops, parks and big bridge across the river. But it isn’t all. People are also different. They have different clothes. Women have different hair style. Men have different hats and new types of guns. People use new tools which I don’t know. They have new names for these tools. It’s all very interesting. The style of music in the pubs is also different. I hear new songs. I like this new style. I want to sing these new songs. From London I return to my town, York. My parents are both dead. I find some relatives. My sister, my uncle and my aunt are still alive. They are happy when they see me. But they think that I’m long dead. So I have no rights to family’s money or land. But I can stay and live in their house. England is a big shock to Friday. Everything is so new for him. It’s all very interesting for him. He likes this new experience. What he doesn’t like is the cold weather in winter. It’s February. Snow and ice aren’t good for him. It isn’t logical for him why we live in such conditions. I tell him that in summer the weather is much better.
I send a letter to Brazil. I still remember the address very well. I want to contact people in Brazil. I want to know if my wife is still alive. I want to know if my plantation still exists. But I don’t know what to expect after so many years. In May, I get a letter and some packets from my wife. She writes nice words to me. She writes about times when she waits for me. But 10 years after my departure, she doesn’t believe that I’m alive. She marries again and she has a new family. But her new husband is ill and he dies. It’s already two years. Now, she lives without a husband. I also get a letter from my wife’s father. He is very old but still alive. In his letter, he writes expenses and profit from my plantation during all these years. They both send me many nice presents. They send me some nice skins and a little box full of gold. They also send me some boxes of sugar to sell. My wife has also a big surprise for me. She writes that I have a son. It’s great news. He is born eight months after my departure. He is now a big man and he wants to meet me. So many things happen in a short time. I can’t believe that it’s all true. I want to cry. Then I want to laugh. All the emotions are too much for me. I’m not able to be calm. I stand up. I sit down. I stand up again. I walk around the room. I laugh. Then I cry again. When I’m a little calm, I think about what to do.
CHAPTER 31– BRAZIL I think about another journey to Brazil. I want to see my son, my wife and my plantation. I think that I can move to Brazil. But I don’t know if my wife wants to live with me. After some longer thinking, I decide to go to Brazil but only for a visit. I want to see if it’s OK to live there again. I write to my wife. I ask her if it’s OK to visit them for some days. With the letter, I send nice presents to her and her father’s family. Then I get a letter from my wife. She writes that I’m welcome to visit them. Her invitation makes me happy. I start to plan another journey by sea. I buy nice presents for them. Two weeks later I’m ready to go. When we arrive to Brazil, I meet with my wife and my son. My wife is different now. But she is still very beautiful. My son is a big man. He is very strong. He is also very intelligent. He has his own family too. He has also big responsibility. He manages plantations of all the family. He is responsible for a big land. My son speaks only Portuguese and a little Spanish. My Portuguese isn’t very good after so many years. I don’t remember many words. I remember only some basic words. But with practice I start to remember words fast. In two weeks, I can have a basic conversation on many topics. And one month later, I’m able to speak very well. I’m very happy that I can speak with my wife and my son. We have so many things for a conversation. Brazil is also very different. People have different clothes. They build new types of houses. Plantations are much bigger. Many people work on them. I’m with my family for three months. I know that I’m not very far from my island. I think about visiting the island again. I want to see the island for some days. Friday also wants to see the island again. My son also wants to go. I think that it isn’t a good idea. I know how dangerous the sea can be. But he wants to see the place which he knows only from my stories. We plan our journey. Two weeks later, we leave Brazil. We go on a ship which goes to Havana. We have an agreement with the captain. He promises to stop at my island on the way there. When I arrive at my island, we meet with Friday’s people. They now live on the island. I ask them, “Where are the prisoners?” They tell me that the prisoners are not on the island. They don’t know where they are. Maybe they are all dead. Friday’s people tell me that they don’t eat Europeans. They eat only their enemies from other islands. I’m happy when I hear that. I want to stay on the island and my son too. I ask the captain if he can take us back to Brazil on the way back. He agrees. I see many children who run around. It’s interesting to see many people on my island.
I see that the people on the island are very happy. Friday is happy there too. He meets a woman. He likes her very much. Friday asks me if it’s OK that he stays on the island with his woman. He knows that he lives thanks to me. He doesn’t want to leave me without my permission. I agree. He doesn’t have to stay with me all his life. It’s time for Friday to start his own family. I’m happy that he has a good woman. I’m happy when I see that they love each other. I respect Friday’s decision to stay on the island. I walk around the island a lot. I want to visit all the places which I know from my life on the island. I have some favourite places, for example the fruit valley. I spend a lot of time there. I like this place very much. My son likes the island too. He often walks around the island with me. I tell him many other stories about my life here. We stay on the island for twenty days. Then the ship from Havana comes. It’s time to leave. We say goodbye to Friday and his people. When we leave the island, I have a strange feeling. I feel tears in my eyes. I like this place very much. My heart is connected with this island forever. The source of the story: newsinlevels.com Brought the story from: learnenglish-new.com If you want to read this book online: newsinlevels.com If you want to download the book: learnenglish-new.com